Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a 2.5D side-scrolling action-adventure game. In the game, the player assumes control of Sargon, a young member of a warrior clan named The Immortals, who must travel to the cursed city of Mount Qaf to rescue the kidnapped Prince Ghassan.^[1] Sargon is equipped with a pair of daggers to defeat enemies. Launching several consecutive attacks formed a combo, and Sargon can also perform aerial attacks by launching enemies into the air. Attacks can also be charged to deal larger damage, or create a blast that affects multiple enemies.^[2] If the player successfully parries a hostile attack before they hit, they will stagger the enemy. Attacks indicated with yellow flashes can be parried with "vengeful counters", a special type of counterattack that triggers a short cutscene showing Sargon dealing a devastating amount of damage and incapacitating weaker enemies immediately. Failing this parry, however, will deplete a significant part of Sargon's own health.^[3][4] Some attacks are unblockable, and players can only dodge to avoid getting hit.^[4] Eventually, players will unlock bows and arrows and a chakram allowing Sargon to hit enemies from afar.^[4] As players deal damage to enemies and avoid getting hit, they will accumulate points for unleashing a powerful attack named "Athra Surges". These attacks are divided into three ranks based on their power and the points they consume.^[5]

Sargon is a very agile character and his basic movement options include jumping and sliding.^[6][7] The Lost Crown is also a platform game,^[8] in which players must travel between platforms while simultaneously avoiding deadly contraptions and a variety of environment hazards.^[9] Eventually, players will unlock time powers that allow Sargon to manipulate time and perform feats such as air dashing, double jumping, and grappling onto faraway objects. These powers include special abilities like the Shadow of the Simurgh, which lets players place a temporary checkpoint to return to instantaneously; the Dimensional Claw, used to capture and toss objects or enemies; and Clairvoyance, which toggles platforms between solid and incorporeal states.^[10] These time powers, alongside Sargon's weapons, are used to solve a variety of puzzles and remove obstacles in the game.^[4] The game introduces several accessibility features allowing players to independently toggle the difficulty of the game's exploration, platforming and combat.^[11] For instance, players can toggle a platform assist option that allows them to skip certain difficult platforming sections.^[12]

The Lost Crown features Metroidvania elements, as locations are interconnected and filled with shortcuts and secret rooms.^[13] If the players venture off the beaten path, they may find side quests, optional boss encounters, treasure chests, and various health upgrades.^[14] They may also collect amulets, which provided players with passive gameplay perks.^[15] The game supports up to 12 amulet slots, though more powerful amulets will occupy multiple spaces.^[16] Some areas in the game may be inaccessible until players unlock the tools and gadgets.^[9][17] As players explore the game world, they can find Time crystals, which can be used to purchase upgrades for Sargon's weapons and abilities as well as maps showing the layout of each biomes and locations of interest.^[9] As players explore the game's world, they will find statues which serve as fast travel points,^[18] and trails of golden leaves guiding players to "Wak-Wak Trees", which serve as a respawn point for Sargon if the player character died in combat or during exploration. It also restores Sargon's health and refill his potions, and allows players to change their amulets and Athra Surges.^[19] Players can take screenshots and pin them to the game's map, allowing them to recognize and remember unsolved puzzles they have encountered.^[20] The game is playable in both Guided and Exploration mode. Guided mode marks the locations of quest objectives on the players' map, while Exploration mode removes them, forcing players to look for hints from the characters and the world.^[21]

Due to suffering over 30 years of drought and famine, and an invasion from the Kushan Empire, the Persian Empire is on the brink of collapse. The latest Kushan invasion into Persian territory is repelled thanks to the efforts of the Immortals, with Sargon, the youngest member of the clan, personally defeating and slaying the Kushan general Uvishka. Sargon and the Immortals are commended for their efforts by Queen Thomyris and Prince Ghassan, but the prince is abducted during the victory celebrations by Sargon's mentor General Anahita. Sargon and the Immortals pursue Anahita to the sacred Mount Qaf, home to the Citadel which was once a great center for learning before it was destroyed by an unknown curse. The Immortals come to suspect that Anahita plans to use Ghassan's royal blood to access the temple of the Simurgh and gain the divine bird's blessing, which would allow her to overthrow Thomyris.

The Immortals enter the Citadel, only to find themselves trapped inside due to a time anomaly. They split up to search for Anahita, and Sargon quickly encounters various undead soldiers and monsters, as well as other humans trapped in the Citadel who provide him aid. He also begins to find and recover the Simurgh's feathers, each of them granting him magical abilities and a portion of the god's power. Sargon is able to catch up to Anahita and save Ghassan, only for the Immortals' leader, Vahram, to intervene and kill the prince, revealing himself as the true culprit intending to usurp Thomyris. Sargon buys time for Anahita to escape, but is defeated by Vahram's mastery of time magic and thrown from a cliff. Sargon manages to survive the fall and comes across a mysterious old man named Alkara who informs him that there is a chance to reverse time and save Ghassan, but it requires making a bargain with the evil snake god Azhdaha. Azhdaha instructs Sargon to gain the blessing of the four Celestial Guardians. He also encounters Anahita, who claims she kidnapped Ghassan on Thomyris' orders. Meanwhile, Vahram lies to the rest of the Immortals, claiming Sargon killed Ghassan and convinces most of them to back his claim to the throne. Sargon is then forced to kill several of his former Immortal comrades.

After securing the favor of the Celestial Guardians, Sargon is sent back in time and thwarts Vahram's attempt to murder Ghassan, but Anahita dies protecting Sargon in the process. Vahram then admits he has been collecting Simurgh's feathers as well and believes only he is worthy to possess them, and he battles Sargon. As their powers clash, Sargon catches a glimpse of Vahram's past and learns that he is actually the long lost son of King Darius, who was assassinated by Thomyris, and her usurping the throne without the Simurgh's blessing is what has caused Persia's 30 years of decline. Ghassan informs Sargon that Vahram is likely seeking the Heart of the Simurgh so that he can merge with it and take the Simurgh's full power.

Sargon pursues Vahram, but is unable to stop him from merging with the Heart and ascending to godhood. Sargon is then contacted by the spirit of the Simurgh, who assures him that he still has the power to defeat and save Vahram from himself. Sargon once again confronts Vahram and after a protracted battle, is finally able to defeat him. Vahram comes to realize the folly of trying to claim a god's power, and sacrifices himself to summon the Simurgh back. With the Simurgh returned, Sargon and Ghassan return to Persepolis as heroes. However, knowing the truth about his mother, Ghassan abdicates his position while Sargon reveals Thomyris murdered Darius to the entire royal court. As Sargon leaves the capital, the remaining Immortals assure him that they will take care of a younger version of Vahram which was created by the Mount's time anomaly and escaped with them.

Throughout the game, the player may find scattered lore notes containing a prophecy, which heavily implies that Sargon is actually a legitimate heir to Thomyris, while Ghassan was used as a decoy prince. Thomyris had staged Ghassan's kidnapping in order to orchestrate the events on Mount Qaf, plotting to have Sargon succeed her throne.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, with support by Ubisoft studios based in Bucharest, Kyiv, and Pune.^[22] While the team did not set out to make a side-scrolling game, the team had previously prototyped 2D Prince of Persia games.^[23] Development of the game only started in 2019 after they had assembled a team with expertise in world-building and creating platforming gameplay.^[23][24] The Lost Crown was positioned as a standalone chapter in the Prince of Persia series. It had no narrative connection to the previous games, and it was not a spin-off of the series.^[25] To give the franchise a distinct identity far removed from Assassin's Creed,^[b] the team analyzed past entries and researched how to best reintroduce it to modern audiences.^[23][27] Radi named acrobatic fights, puzzles, platforming gameplay, and narrative as the franchise's four core pillars.^[28] They also wanted to retain the franchise's setting and its emphasis on time manipulation powers, while adding a twist on them to make them more novel. As a result, the Prince returns in The Lost Crown but no longer serves as a playable character.^[24] The time rewind power, introduced in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003), is wielded by the game's antagonist rather than the playable character.^[29] Sargon initially did not have a name to align with the franchise's tradition of having an unnamed protagonist. However, it was added back towards the end of the game's development^[23] to allow players to develop better emotional attachment to him.^[30] Sargon was described by the team as a young, agile warrior. With Sargon, the team hoped to modernize the image of the franchise by introducing "fresh visual design" that took references from "modern culture, urban culture, and fashion".^[31]

Key members of the team had worked on both Rayman Origins (2010) and Rayman Legends (2013). To make the gameplay structure more open and less linear than their past works, they decided to make The Lost Crown a Metroidvania, a gameplay genre that Modi felt also evokes the darker, isolated tone found in the original game.^[23] As with the Rayman games, platforming gameplay had a key focus on rhythm and musicality; combinations of movements would begin to flow naturally as Sargon sprints through stages and levels.^[23] The platforming gameplay was nonetheless designed to be difficult, similar to the original game.^[32] As with other Metroidvania games, the upgrades in the game were rolled out gradually to empower the players, encouraging them to revisit previously locked locations with new strategies and approach objectives with a multitude of ways.^[30] The game retained traditional platforming sections which require players to play in specific ways to progress in the form of Xerxes challenges.^[33] Ubisoft made accessibility a key priority, involving the entire project team. While other Metroidvania games require players to memorize locations and map layout, The Lost Crown allows players to take screenshots and pin them on the map.^[24] While the team wanted players to feel "lost" while exploring, Guided mode was added to better lead players to their objectives.^[34]

Despite its side-scrolling gameplay, levels were built as three-dimensional spaces.^[35] This allowed the game camera to move within the game world and shift perspective during certain gameplay actions.^[30] The success of Metroid Dread (2020) also boost the team's confidence in incorporating 3D environment and assets in a 2D game.^[36] According to art director Jean-Christophe Alessandri, the team was strongly inspired by Shōnen manga, superhero comics and street art. Flashy, vibrant colors were used to depict Sargon's special attacks to emphasize their overpowered nature and create memorable moments for players.^[30] Radi compared Sargon to Vegeta,^[37] while Dragon Ball, Sword of the Stranger, Hunter x Hunter, Berserk, and Demon Slayer all inspired by the team.^[38][39] The animation style of the Spider-Verse movies also influenced the team.^[40] The animators also worked with motion capture technicians and stuntmen, who would act out individual attack poses in an effort to make offensive abilities appear more grounded.^[41] Combat was inspired by 2D fighting games. The control scheme only has one button for attacking, with Radi citing games such as Super Smash Bros and Street Fighter as sources of inspiration.^[23] His fighting style was inspired by tricking, which had elements of martial arts, dance and free running,^[24] and the team compared his movement and fighting style to those of a tiger.^[38]

The team believed that its art style contributed to The Lost Crown's story which was designed to be "larger-than-life" with a bigger focus on fantastical elements than its predecessor.^[42] The game was heavily inspired by Persian mythology and Zoroastrianism,^[25] and the team wanted to showed how they affected other mythologies by introducing monsters like the manticore, as one of the game's boss characters.^[43] The story itself was inspired by the folklore surrounding the Simurgh, described by Radi as "a time divinity that has witnessed the end of the world".^[44] The Metroidvania structure also allowed the team to introduce more diverse landscapes,^[25] from large, lavish locations which were reminiscent of those from One Thousand and One Nights, to clausterphobic, trap-filled tight spaces commonly found in the original game.^[30] Unlike other Metroidvania games, The Lost Crown had a significant larger emphasis on its narrative.^[45] The team described Sargon as a "superhero in Legendary Persia", and compared the game's narrative to a "coming-of-age" story in which Sargon transformed from a warrior to a "strong man". The story of Miyamoto Musashi particularly influenced the team.^[44] Similar to Japanese anime, the game also explored darker, philosophical topics despite its visually pleasing aesthetics.^[37]

Mentrix (left) and Gareth Coker (right) served as the game's composers.

Gareth Coker and Berlin-based, Iranian-born composer Mentrix (Samar Rad) served as the game's composers. Mentrix's debut album, My Enemy, My Love, and Coker's score for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope caught the attention of Ubisoft, which then invited the duo to work on The Lost Crown. According to Mentrix, Ubisoft requested an original soundtrack that avoided common clichés associated with Middle Eastern music. The two did not collaborate directly, as Coker joined the team during the final year of development just as Mentrix was wrapping up her work. Mentrix scored the game's exploration sequences using traditional Persian instruments like the tar, kamancheh, daf, and ney. Meanwhile, Coker handled some of the cinematics and boss battles, relying primarily on a Western orchestral palette. Coker also composed the game's main theme, which features vocals by Mentrix.^[46][47] Side London provided casting and voice-recording services for The Lost Crown.^[48] The game is one of the first video games to be dubbed into Persian (Farsi). Sepehr Torabi, who voiced five different characters in the Persian version, said that the voice acting was done without knowing what the final product was.^[49]

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was announced in June 2023. Its debut trailer received mixed reactions from viewers. While some commentators liked the return of the 2D perspective, the trailer's use of rap music was criticized for being inauthentic to the setting.^[50] Series creator Jordan Mechner, while not directly involved in the game's development, voiced his support for the team and wrote that he was "thrilled that Prince of Persia is getting a new start after so long, from such a great team".^[23] Players who purchased the Digital Deluxe Edition can access the game three days earlier and received in-game cosmetic items, while players who pre-ordered the game received a costume based on Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (2004).^[51] A free demo, receiving a significant more positive player reaction, was also released.^[52]

The Lost Crown was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows via the Epic Game Store, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on 18 January 2024.^[53] Its release marked the first Prince of Persia title in 13 years, following Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (2010).^[23] At launch, players discovered that one character’s dialogue was generated using text-to-speech software. Ubisoft clarified that this was placeholder audio and confirmed it would be replaced in a future patch.^[54] It was later released on Windows via Steam on 8 August 2024.^[55] Ubisoft Da Nang developed a mobile port of the game,^[56] which released on April 14, 2025 for iOS and Android.^[57] A free trial of the game is available, with an in-app purchase being used to unlock the entire game.^[58]

Ubisoft supported the game extensively following its initial launch. Character outfits based on The Rogue Prince of Persia (released through early access in 2024) and the 2008 Prince of Persia reboot were released.^[59] More accessibility features, such as the ability for players to carry out multidirectional parries^[60] and game modes introducing permadeath, speedrunning, and boss rush, as well as new gameplay challenges were added to the game.^[61] A paid expansion titled Mask of Darkness, which introduces a new biome named Radjen's Mind Palace and several new enemy types and traps, was released on 17 September 2024. The expansion's story runs concurrently with the main game.^[62] The expansion marked the last content release for The Lost Crown, as Ubisoft confirmed reports in October 2024 that a planned sequel was rejected and that the team was disbanded, with the developers moved to other departments to support other games.^[63]